Virginia City, NV Summary

Virginia City, a town of around 900 people, remains a veritable link to the Wild West. Located off Hwy 341, the community once sat on a rich silver strike.

In 1859, two miners were swindled out of their fortune by Henry Comstock. Many soon heard of “the Comstock Lode” and the region was soon crowded with prospectors. Twenty years later, the arrival of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad cemented Virginia City’s prosperity. Today visitors can stroll along the boardwalk past rows of late-Victorian fa\347ades housing gift shops and saloons, including the curiously named Bucket of Blood Saloon.

The best place to commence a walking tour of the town is at the Mark Twain Bookstore located on C Street—the town’s main thoroughfare. Open year-round, the bookstore offers a vast range of regional books as well as the works of the author, who first worked as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise as Samuel Clemens.

The Mark Twain Museum, located at the Territorial Enterprise Building, hosts a collection of Victorian printing presses, desks, and rustic paraphernalia. The Way It Was Museum is solely devoted to the history of the Comstock strike, and the Virginia City Radio Museum displays a massive collection of vintage radios. One of the most interesting tours is at the Best and Becher Mine, with treks to the mine starting at the rear of the rowdy Ponderosa Saloon.

By the 1870s, Virginia City’s red-light district reached its peak, with the tidal surge of prospectors swelling the population to 30,000 accommodated by no less than 110 saloons and brothels. Upholding the city’s colorful heritage, the Julia Bulette Red Light Museum commemorates the most famous town madam. A display of antiquated contraceptives and medicinal cures are on display, part of the history of prostitution in Nevada’s mining towns.

In 1875, a fire consumed most of the city. It was rebuilt in brick, and several historic homes from this period still survive. The Mackay Mansion was built by John Mackay, the richest man in Virginia City and proprietor of the Big Bonanza mine.

On B Street is the Gothic mansion known as “the Castle,” a treasure trove of European fixtures dating back to 1868. Chugging past the Chollar Mine is the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, which was resurrected for tourists after its operations ceased in 1950.

The 35-minute ride is available throughout the summer, taking passengers through a series of twisting tunnels and over gravitydefying trestles.

There are more eternal residents in the graveyards of Virginia City than remain alive. At the Silver Terrace Cemetery, visitors can see many interesting graves. Housing crumbling headstones and weathered iron enclosures, the cemetery stretches over nine graveyards, with each area sectioned in different religions.

Virginia City is serviced through the Reno-Sparks Cannon International Airport.